Despite years of evidence that remote work can be successful, organizations are focused on building a “post-pandemic world that mirrors the pre-pandemic one” (Chang, 2022, para. 21). Return-to-office mandates complicate employer/employee trust, contributing to the breakdown of the psychological contract (Kaya & Kartepe, 2020). In the earliest days of the pandemic, a shift to flexible work arrangements did not allow employers to consider which employees they trusted. Employees were asked to trust they would still have jobs, with the move to remote work pushing on both work and nonwork roles in unprecedented ways (Allen et al., 2021, p. 60; see also Leroy et al., 2021; Mirchandani, 2008). Six years later, many face significant changes to previous flexible work arrangements. Employees who have been trusted to effectively work from home for years now, find themselves questioning what they have done to suddenly reverse the view of their employer from trust to fully in-office oversight.

There is tension between employer and employee showing a lack of trust between organization and individual. Employees and employers alike are holding tightly to an argument of “it must be this way,” though remote work is far from a one-size-fits-all solution for either. Awada et al. (2021) suggest three keys: “the work (the what), the workspace (the where), and the worker (the who)” (p. 1172). Some organizations are still carefully considering this balance, while others have insisted on full returns to office without much explanation.

Critically, organizations seem to be increasingly forgetting the “who” in the equation – where jobs can be done well from home, who has demonstrated the trust necessary to do that?

Assuming that a mass return to the office is sustainable for all is as uninformed as assuming all jobs can be done remotely. Rather, consideration of both work and life factors should be evaluated (Carnevale & Hatak, 2020; Kramer & Kramer, 2020; Pichler et al., 2023; WHO, 2020). Employers rightly have concerns about employee productivity, culture and onboarding, and physical space needs (Nyberg et al., 2021). While there are clear benefits to in-office socialization and collaborative meetings in some cases (Van Ness & Buff, 2023) when employees have proven effective, productive work can be done remotely, employers should reasonably consider flexibility. Productivity did not entirely plummet during the pandemic and employees reported benefits like less time in traffic, less conflict with meeting times, less commuting costs, and the ability to take care of a quick home chore between work responsibilities (De Klerk et al, 2021; Elhinnawy et al., 2025; Leal Filho et al., 2024; Pradoto, 2022; Van Ness & Buff, 2023). The ability to flex one’s time leads to higher satisfaction with one’s work and an increase in family well-being, in part because of autonomy over schedule and location (Blair-Loy, 2009; Clark, 2000; Elhinnawy et al., 2025; Toffoletti & Starr, 2016). Employers desiring to be viewed as top places to work should consider flexible options as carefully as they would employee benefits and in-office concerns, including employee perception and policy, providing more explanation than “this is the way it has always been” when denying flexible arrangements (Boyar et al., 2024; Chang, 2022; Huxford Davis, 2022). Considerations for how post-pandemic employee preferences and needs have changed matter (Guo & Zhu, 2023; Lyu and Fan, 2020) and access to flexibility and autonomy impacts job satisfaction (Currie & Evelin, 2011; ILO, 2020; Kossek & Lee, 2020; Van Ness & Buff, 2023; Wood et al., 2020).

The focus on finding a reasonable, healthy balance between work and life existed long before the pandemic (Akanji et al., 2015; Huxford Davis, 2017, 2022). Post-pandemic the idea that this is essential and an immediate need is present. Many workers are frustrated (Sun et al., 2020; Veal, 2020). Employers should consider approaching this ethically and equitably moving forward to find sustainable trust between organization and employee (Huxford Davis, 2022). Employees should also recognize that it is reasonable to adhere to expectations around dedicated work space, productivity, and behaviors that support a work from home environment (Awada et al., 2021; Kawaguchi & Motegi, 2021; Lašáková & Remišová, 2019; Leroy et al., 2021; Lopez-Leon et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2021). Organizations have a reasonable expectation and concern for employee productivity, whether employees are remote or in-office or some combination of the two.

Productivity matters (Newport, 2021) but we now know better than to argue that flexibility kills productivity or teamwork (Chambel et al, 2017; Palumbo, 2020; Shankar & Bhatnagar, 2010). In a new normal, where is there room to examine options for thoughtful implementation, experiments in trust, and plans to revisit what works for employees and employers alike?

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